Curetis thetis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Curetis thetis, the Indian sunbeam, is a species of lycaenid or red butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The butterfly occurs in Peninsular India, south of the Himalayas, but not in the desert tracts or in areas with a scanty rainfall; parts of Assam; Saurashtra; Bengal, Sylhet onto Myanmar. It is also found in the Nicobar Islands.
It is also found in Sri Lanka, Java, Philippines, northern Sulawesi and Selajar. It is not considered rare. Upperside dark cupreous red, glossy and shining. Forewing: base irrorated with dusky scales; costa edged with a narrow, inwardly jagged, jet-black band that broadens to the apex, thence continued along the termen, decreasing in width to the tornus; opposite the apex the inner edge of the black is acutely angulate. Hindwing: base and dorsum broadly but slightly irrorated (sprinkled) with dusky scales; costa narrowly, dorsal margin more broadly pale; termen very narrowly and evenly margined with black.
Underside: shining silvery white. Forewings and hindwings crossed transversely by discal and inner subterminal, somewhat lunular dark lines and a more or less obsolescent outer subterminal line... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Sunbeam sighting in Kolkata on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 116th most-seen of the 213 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Sunbeam in Kolkata on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, July and September, the lowest months.
9th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Indian Sunbeam sightings, Kolkata ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tamluk (India, about 30%), Jabalpur (India, about 30%) and Salem (India, about 20%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Indian Sunbeam that you can see in Kolkata (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Plains Cupid (about 30%), Pale Grass Blue (about 20%) and Gram Blue (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Sunbeam is recorded against all the insects logged in Kolkata (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
